Thursday, December 29, 2022
Everywhere You go Always Take The Weather With You
Luke 16:1-13 Ecclesiastes 11 How To Have A Successful Year
1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.
8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.
9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Most irritating song heard on HOPE FM this year was… Everywhere you go always take the weather with you. What? Every time I am in the car I hear this song? Maybe they have limited songs?
Crowded House:
Walking 'round the room singin' Stormy Weather At Fifty Seven Mount Pleasant Street
Well it's the same room But everything's different You can fight the sleep But not the dream
Things ain't cookin' in my kitchen Strange affliction wash over me Julius Caesar And the Roman Empire Couldn't conquer the blue sky
Everywhere you go Always take the weather with you
Everywhere you go Always take the weather
Everywhere you go You always take the weather with you
Everywhere you go Always take the weather The weather with you
Neil Finn told the story of the song, which he wrote with his brother/bandmate Tim
Ultimately, the theme of the song is, of course, that you are creating your own weather, you are making your own environment, always."
The promise of prosperity. Success is big business. Curiously, however, few ever address what most folks want (but seldom find) in their pursuit of success: contentment, fulfillment, satisfaction, and relief. On the contrary, the roads that are supposed to lead to success are not only rocky; they're maddening. As the Executive's Digest once reported, "The trouble with success is that the formula is the same as the one for a nervous breakdown." And what formula is that? Work longer hours, push ahead, let nothing hinder your quest—not your marriage or family, not your convictions or conscience, not your health or friends. Be aggressive and, if necessary, mean, as you press toward the top. You gotta be smart, slick, and sly if success is the bottom line of your agenda. It's the same old fortune-fame-power-pleasure line we've been fed for decades. At the risk of sounding ultra-simplistic, I'd like to offer some counsel that stands 180 degrees in contrast to all the above.
And Solomon's directives here in Ecclesiastes 11 are actually recognised today as best practice for business. It is called "Soft Skills!" and it works!
While Solomon was a wise man, particularly later in life, he learnt how to bring his life under the big picture of his relationship with God. Here he gives some practical wisdom for achieving business goals. Project planning. There are courses in this at colleges and universities. Here is Solomon's directions to overcome the Paralysis of Analysis.
PROFITER BE:
Proactive not passive
1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.
Responsible not reactive
2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
Life isn't just about the job. In fact if you are a project development manager, you are in fact managing people. Managing people is about demonstrating that you have the best interests of each person at your heart. There is a willingness to share.
Stedman: The idea expressed there is one of openhanded generosity. Give freely, wisely, but generously to the needs of those about. This phrase, "Cast your bread upon the waters," was a proverb in Israel for what looked like wasteful expenditure. No one would take good bread and throw it in the river; he would be regarded as a wastrel for doing that. But here we are enjoined to do that very thing. This is not encouraging us to be spendthrifts, to thoughtlessly and carelessly give away our money, spending it like a drunken sailor. What is meant is, be willing to take a chance where a real need is evident.
Wiersbe: Solomon used two activities to illustrate his point [life is an adventure that must be lived by faith]: the merchant sending out his ships (vv. 1-2) and the farmer sowing his seed (vv. 3-6). In both activities, a great deal of faith is required, because neither the merchant nor the farmer can control the circumstances. The ships might hit a reef, meet a storm, or be attacked by pirates and the cargo lost. Bad weather, blight, or insects might destroy the crop, and the farmer's labor would be in vain. However, if the merchant and the farmer waited until the circumstances were ideal, they would never get anything done! Life has a certain amount of risk to it, and that's where faith comes in.
These are the "soft skills" I mentioned earlier. Recently a friend wrote a Phd on just this.
What are hard skills? Well, the hard skills of a Marketing Coordinator might include things like UX design, SEO and SEM skills, social media skills, or marketing analytics. But what is lacking and what the employers are increasingly looking more for are people who have the right soft skills for the job.
Soft skills are the things that help you fit in at the workplace, work well with colleagues, connect well with associates. They include things like attitude, communication, listening, motivation and manners. Both hard skills and soft skills are needed in any workplace and you're not going to get very far in a role without either one.
Soft skills are crucial for job-readiness
In the example above, the Marketing Coordinator would probably feature their hard skills front and centre on their resume.
But if all an employer sees are their hard skills, they may be left asking:
But, do they have the right personality and temperament to fit in with the team?
Do they have the communication skills to run a marketing event?
Do they have the persuasive skills to sell their ideas?
Do they have the networking and negotiation skills to forge partnerships?
Poorva explained that soft skills are "a really big focus right now". Some of the current trending soft skills from LinkedIn's research were: resiliency (which is probably no surprise given the pandemic we've all been living through) digital fluency emotional intelligence, and humour
Open not Obstructive
3 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
Focussed not fearful
4 He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
A farmer, ragged and barefooted, was standing on the steps of his tumbledown shack. A stranger stopped for a drink of water and just to pass the time of day he asked: "How is your cotton coming along?" he asked. "Ain't got none," replied the farmer. "Did you plant any?" asked the stranger. "Nope," was the reply, "afraid of bollweevils." "Well," continued the stranger, "how is your corn?" "Didn't plant none," came the answer, "'fraid there weren't going to be no rain." The visitor persevered: "Well, how are your potatoes?" "Ain't got none. Scairt - of potato bugs." "Really, what did you plant?" pressed the stranger. "Nothin'," was the calm reply, "I jest played safe."
Where are you making excuses for failing to step out in faith and trust God and get busy in building His kingdom? Why are you procrastinating?
Why are you scared to take risks? – "All authority is given unto me … Go .. Make Disciples"
Intelligent not Impulsive
5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
Don't Try to Unscrew the Inscrutable – leads to being overly cautious and paralyzed – you don't have to have everything figured out – Trust God to work
"Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things."
Cf. Jesus using this thought in his conversation with Nicodemus in John
You might object: I don't see how my investing in the kingdom will really make much of an impact … What can God possibly do with this mysterious teaching ministry over the internet? I can't see the process or the results?? When I witness, I don't see any amazing conversions … doesn't seem like it matters …
How about if the obstetrician threw up his hands and said .. I'm not going to use my skills to help with this delivery of this new life into the world … I don't fully understand how it all works … I know the facts of life … but they don't make a lot of sense to me … How does God create a new life … How do the bones form and grow?? I give up ..
Trusting not tentative
6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
Enjoy not endure
7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.
8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.
9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
Wiersbe: "Walk in the ways of your heart" (NKJV) is not an encouragement to go on a youthful fling and satisfy the sinful desires within (Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:20-23). It is rather a reminder for young people to enjoy the special pleasures that belong to youth and can never be experienced again in quite the same way. Those of us who are older need to remember that God expects young people to act like young people. The tragedy is that too many older people are trying to act like young people.!
Rejoicing Not Revelling
10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added t:o you. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Worry is Unprofitable
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Worry is Useless
27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
In verse 27, we read, "Which of you, by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life's span?" In other words, Jesus is asking, "Which of you can solve your problem of worrying?" By asking this rhetorical question, Jesus wants us to understand that worrying doesn't do us an ounce, a "cubit", of good—not even a little bit! So the first reason why we should never worry is because worrying never profits us; it is useless. The second reason why we should never worry is because it is needless. In verse 30, we read, "If God so arrays the grass of the field . . . will He not much more do so for you?" In other words, "If God looks after birds and lilies, is it not foolish to think that He would neglect us?" Sure, things don't always go as smoothly as we would like, but you must take quite a leap to reach the conclusion that God does not care for us. Jesus reminds us elsewhere, "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father . . . Therefore do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows" (Mt.10:29,31). The point Jesus is trying to make is that, if God, the ultimate Power of the universe, cares for us, and promises to provide for us, it doesn't make much sense to worry; it is needless.
Worry Is Ungodly
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
The third reason not to be anxious is because it is heathenish (term taken from C.H. Spurgeon). In verse 32 Jesus reminds us, "all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek". When we worry about "these things" we are doubting God's care. And when we doubt God's care we resemble unbelieving Gentiles—we resemble people who do not depend on the provisions of our loving Heavenly Father.
Friends, the reason so many people are anxious is because so many are living apart from Christ. Be we, who have trusted in Christ, must not live as the heathen do.
It makes no sense for us to be anxious. It is useless. It is needless. It is heathenish.
So how do we fix this? How do we escape our tendency to worry about things? Thankfully, Jesus offers us an alternative to anxiety that makes perfect sense. Jesus calls us to make the honour of God our chief aim, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Mt.6:33).
Your Top Priority is Personal SEEK ye FIRST"
In Papua New Guinea, the Pidgin English spoken is a very simple straight foreword language. Jeff and Joe will be learning this soon. "Nambah One!"
Psa 105:4 Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
1Chron 22:17 David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 18 Is not the LORD your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people. 19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God;
Christ's Deity Demands It
Col 1:18 He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything.
Christ's Death Demands it
1 Cor 6: 20 for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
1 If you seek the Lord you will Experience Peace "All these things shall be added unto you"
The Lord Jesus has instructed the disciples about true treasures
Matthew 6: 19 "Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Lord Jesus has instructed the disciples about the true focus of their lives.
25 "This is why I tell you: Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky: they don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying?
The Lord is showing that there is only one thing that deserves Numbah 1 place in your life. And He says that your heavenly Father will look after the rest.
2. If you Seek the Lord You Will Experience God's Presence
Deut 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Psa 63:1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. 3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
Psalm 42:1As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
2Chron 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
